Who unpacks when you come back off holiday ?

[Perimenopausal42]

Just that really just been away for weekend with DH family.

I packed up at holiday he put stuff in car, he drove 4 hours has now gone to bed left me to unpack car and all stuff for both adults and 1 7 year old. What happens in your case?

We just got back too. I brought in the case with the dirty clothes and my 8 year old put the washing on. Everyone else did general putting away for 5–10 minutes and then we had tea and cake.

This!

I do. The only other person in our household is completely unable to help in anyway and takes far more stuff than I do but he is only 5.

Everyone has their own packing cube. DH unpacks his and our dcs, usually as soon as we come through the door, and he'll often put on a load of laundry. I unpack my cube and other stuff like toiletries. But if I'm jetlagged I'll ignore it until I've had a nap, I don't see the point in rushing to get those clothes clean again as I have other clothes to wear. We don't have a car and we bring all cases and bags off the tube, so don't have a choice about leaving it in a car.

Everyone helps to unpack the car.
Everyone unpacks their own bag.
Dirty laundry is all packed together so it can be easily transferred to the laundry basket/washing machine depending on what time we get home.

Sounds like DH was tired after the long drive, and there surely wasn't that much unloading to do if you'd only been away for a weekend?

DH usually does all the driving and will unload the car and carry suitcase upstairs. So I usually do the unpacking and sort out getting stuff in the wash. DHs stuff that isn’t going in the wash I will leave in a pile for him to sort out

I pack mine and DD (She is 6 and chooses mostly the right things.) I pack because I'm queen of packing everything into the small suitcase. We're packet and ready 2+3 days beforehand. I take charge of our passports etc.

DH will pack his stuff the night before/morning of and I do it get involved at all. He knows by now not to ask me where anything is, or if something is washed or where charger leads etc are.... I absolutely refuse to help him and his last minute packing and resulting stress is absolutely not my problem! We just went away before Easter and asked if I'd got his passport out for him. I hadn't. And then he panicked and couldn't find it, because he hadn't put it away properly from the previous holiday (he insists on keeping his passport on his person and won't let anyone touch it 🤷‍♀️) so I never know where it is and make zero effort to check if he's put it in the filing cabinet in the loft!

We get our laundry done before coming home, so most stuff is clean. Everyone unpacks their own bag.

Before we leave the holiday destination, we pack one case with dirty and one case with clean or stuff that’s ready to put away.

when we get home, I take the dirty clothes and put the first load of laundry on while DH and DD unpack the rest of the car. We then each unpack our own clean stuff and jointly put other stuff away (eg chargers, souvenirs etc).

He packs for himself and children. He drives the car. He unpacks the cases when we arrive on holiday, he and the children will unpack and pack their cases on holiday. He will drive home. He will unload the car with the children. Cases get unloaded in kitchen in terms of laundry (most laundry is done on holiday if possible and then remainder bagged separately to clean clothes) and then rest is taken by individual owner to own space and unpacked pretty immediately. Dh and I will unpack the miscellaneous bags as they come in. Aim to have everything squared away within 24 hours.

I can and do drive, but in chronically ill and suffer with chronic pain so I have to preserve what I can. Most recent was a holiday to northern Scotland that involved 10+ hours of driving to get there. I drove a small amount. He did not put himself to bed or anything, he dealt with things and then went to bed.

We generally share the load, but after a 4 hour drive, I would not be upset and posting on MN if husband went for a lie down and left me to deal with it.

I unpack the clothes, he sorts out the other stuff

Not that one person would do all the driving, but even if they did, it doesn't get them out of doing their washing, it's not like anyone can do anything else useful while they're in the car can they?

If someone came in and went to bed, their unpacking would sit there until they dealt with it.

If it was someone else's case, I wouldn't know what was washing and what could be worn again anyway.

I like to leave my suitcase in the hall as long as possible to remind me I was on holiday not so long ago.
Never a huge rush to wash clothes as I have more than the number of items needed for a holiday.

We kinda divide all of the holiday jobs. I tend to pack for me and the toddler, 11 yo dc packs and both H and I check it over. I do the toiletries and any food needed. He does the pre checks on the car and packs his own stuff and packs everything into the car. He does all the techy packing (ipads, chargers etc). He also does all the driving. I do the planning and he makes suggestions. We both take it turns keeping the toddler entertained and contained during any packing and unpacking.

Unpacking the car is always on him (destination or at home), we both do the laundry as there's usually more than one load or we both make sure to wash as much as possible if washing facilities are available. And again we take it turns with the kids or cooking if one is doing washing and other bits.

It's too much for one person and ruins the holiday feeling if it's just on one person to do.

What? We each unpack our own things. I'm not his mother and it makes not a single shite of difference to me whether he unpacks his bag now or leaves his own things to fester in there for weeks on end. Either way it's his issue to deal with!

To be completely transparent though, I get everything washed before we come home so if there's any washing it's only what we've worn the day of and day before travelling.

Whoever's sticking the washing on.

Suitcases etc get taken in by everyone and then nothing gets done til next day! My DH did his case and I did mine and the kids (meaning stuff in laundry basket or put away), now my kids are older they do it themselves.

DH would bring bags into the house and depending on time we either unpack or leave them until morning and unpack then.
After 4 hours driving he would have some rest, I would unpack the most essential things and then we would unpack the rest later together.

added: we usually mix things in suitcases/bags (apart from handbags) so to unpack your own things you have to unpack all bags.

We all (including kids) unpack our own luggage. And then I sort and do the first wash pretty quickly.

DH is in charge of making our first cuppa once we arrive home. and also putting empty luggage back in the loft.

I do the rest. I enjoy it! I love getting back to normal

(I will add that we have a tidy home and no laundry waiting in the basket when we go on holiday. And a quick dinner waiting for us in the freezer. So we come home to less stress)

Once that's all done I start looking online for the next holiday 🤣

We both unload the car, i unpack mine and daughters cases, husband does his.

Me. He gets bags out of car/van and then sits down on his computer. I take everything out and organise washing/putting away. Not ideal but it's what happens